Searchers seek Toronto firefighter missing in New York state

The Canadian Press

Published: Feb 09 at 4:21 a.m.

Updated: Feb 09 at 5:30 a.m.

WILMINGTON, N.Y. — Police in Lake Placid, New York and forest rangers continue searching Whiteface Mountain in the Adirondacks for a 49-year-old Toronto firefighter who was last seen by his skiing party on Wednesday afternoon.

The Olympic Regional Development Authority, which runs the Whiteface ski centre, is leading the search and a spokesman says 35 people, along with a helicopter and search dogs, were assisting in the effort.

State Police Information Officer Jennifer Fleishman says the unidentified skier went missing about the same time as a strong snowstorm was making visibility poor.

More than a metre of snow has fallen in the last 24 hours.

Frank Ramagnano, a spokesman for the Toronto Professional Firefighters Association, says the missing man is part of a group of off-duty and retired firefighters, friends and family making an annual ski trip.

Ramagnano told Toronto's CITY-TV the group realized he was missing after the ski hills closed after 4 p.m. The group said his belongings were in the ski lodge and his vehicle still in the parking lot.